Improvement in shoulder-braces



v UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

ALBERT W. UPTON, OF LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN SHOULDER-BRACES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT W. UP'roN, a resident of Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Shoulder- Braces and I do hereby declare the same to be fully described in the following specification and represented in the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure l is a front view, Fig. 2, a rear View, of one of my improved shoulder-braces as applied to the body of a person.

In the drawings, A A are the usual shoulderstraps, which go over the shoulders of the wearer, and are united in the immediate vicinity of the lower part ofthe shoulder-blades by a short cross-strap, O, which may be elastic lengthwise. From each of the straps A A a buttoning-strap, E, depends, and is for the purpose of attaching the brace to the two rear suspender-bnttons of the pautaloons of the wearer.

In the ordinary mode of making a shoulderbraee each of the straps Ais carried over and around the shoulder, thence underneath the arm and toward the middle of the back, and

is connected or buckled to the lower part of itself. A strap so made and applied to the shoulders is liable to work up on the collarbone of the wearer in a manner to exercise little or no strain on the shoulder-such as may be necessary to produce the expansion of the shoulders and chest.

In carrying out my improvement, instead of running the strap A directly from the shoulder underneath the arm, I curve it from the c )llar-bone'down to the point a of the shoulder, and thence carry from it at an angle, as

shown in Fig. 2, an auxiliary strap, F, which is to run backward around the shoulder. From the intersection of the two straps A F, Icarryv a strap, B, down underneath the arm and connect the said strap and the strap F by means of a buckle, G, to the lower partof the strap A. To themiddle, or about the middle, of each of the straps B B I affix one end of a suspension-strap, D, which to is be attached to the waistband. of the pautaloons or be buckled to branch straps b b, buttoned thereon. The auxiliary brace-straps F F, arranged and combined with the shoulder and arm straps A A and B B of thebrace, serve to keep the strain of the brace 'on the front parts or points of the shoulders, and also to restore either of the straps A to its normal position on the shoulder at any timeafter it may have been moved too much toward the neck of the wearer.

When the brace is designed to be worn by a female, the straps D D andE E are to be buttoned on or fastened to a body-belt to go around the waist, the skirts being hung from or applied to such belt.

What I claim as my invention is- The combination and arrangement of the auxiliary brace-straps F F with the shoulderstiaps A A and the arm-straps B B,-the said shoulder-straps being connected by a strap, (J, and provided with means-via, suspension-straps D D E E, or their equivalentsby which the brace may be connected with the pautaloons or a body-belt.

B. ll. EDDY, F. P. HALE, Jr. 

